Major Quake, Chile

A major earthquake struck onshore near the coast of Tarapaca, Chile this afternoon.

Thursday 3rd April 2014

A major earthquake of magnitude 7.8 struck 23 km south of Iquique, Chile at 3:43 this afternoon, New Zealand Daylight Time. The quake, which was 12 km deep according to the U.S. Geological Survey, was centred inland but near the coast of the Tarapaca region, 184 km north of Tocopilla, 217 km south of Arica.

This earthquake was centred within 120 km of yesterday’s great quake of magnitude 8.2.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre issued two bulletins for the latest quake, initially reporting it as magnitude 7.4 at a depth of 10km. The report advised that a destructive widespread tsunami threat did not exist based on historical data. A second bulletin revised the quake to magnitude 7.8 at a depth of 20km and issued a tsunami warning for Chile and Peru.

This afternoon’s earthquake was preceded by a magnitude 6.4 quake centred 47 km west of Iquique at 2:58 New Zealand time. This quake was 10 km deep.

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